Complaining: Some ‘Real’ Complaints
| This entry is part of the Complaining in English series. You can find more vocabulary there. This entry is available as a Adobe Acrobat file for printing or use in a class.This entry is spoken, so that you can listen to it while you read. (MP3) |
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After three days of talking about complaints, I think it’s time to see how some native English speakers complain. Our complaints come from a website called mybiggestcomplaint.com. I picked two complaints that I thought were interesting. You can find plenty more at the website.
The first complaint is about Apple Stores:
A guy walks into an Apple Store…
Yeah, it’s the start to a bad joke.
I’ve been a PC user since DOS. I finally get tired of the constant Microsoft issues and decide to change to the Mac. I look online to decide what I want in the new Mac Book Pro and make an appointment at my local store for a one on one. Imagine my disappointment when I get there and they can’t display the new machine because they don’t have them in the stores yet. To make it worse, they can’t show me the dual boot function so I can keep some of my proprietary MS software. I’d think there was a sizable market for “The Converted”, but for me it was a complete loss of faith in Apple experience. And so I’ll stay with what I know. Hello Mr. Dell…
The second complaint is about working with people who bring their personal problems to work. If you’re not familiar with a ‘cubicle,’ it’s a sub-division of a larger office. In some American companies, each worker has a cubicle where they can’t see their co-workers, but they can hear everything they say.
I have this co-worker who constantly brought personal problems to the job. I complained and nothing was done. One morning, things got completely out of hand, a fight ensued, and I was terminated.
I went though the appeals process and the hearing officer ruled that I should be reinstated. Now here’s the problem. I’m unable to file a lawsuit because there was no grounds for discrimination even though the co-worker attacked me. I’m highly perturbed that there is no statute for protecting employees against insensitive co-workers.
Have you had any experiences like these? Now is your chance to let everyone know what your “biggest complaint” is. Is it co-workers? English grammar? Let us know about it. Tell us how it makes you feel. . . And give us as many details as possible. As always, I’ll correct comments you make here on the site.
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